Coyote Population

A city councilman has scheduled a discussion Tuesday to look at ways of controlling the local coyote population after several residents reported that their pets had been attacked. "I'm just willing to do whatever it takes," Councilman Barry L. Denes said. Several residents have called the city's hotline in recent weeks to complain about coyotes coming down from the foothills and killing their pets. Some residents favor trapping or killing the coyotes. But others reject the idea as inhumane.

As if baggage, security and traffic aren't enough of a hassle for the thousands expected to fly in and out of Raleigh-Durham International Airport this holiday weekend, here's one more thing to worry about: coyotes on the runway. Airport officials have noted a marked increase in recent months in the number of coyotes crossing the paths of taxiing airplanes. The critters can wreak havoc, causing delays in takeoffs and landings. In September, an American Eagle jet struck a coyote on a runway.

Villa Park is not alone in wondering what to do about a coyote population in conflict with its neighbors (Sept. 5, 25). As a member of the Animal Rescue Foundation of Dana Point, I hear almost daily of pets missing that must be presumed eaten. Coyotes are one of nature's most adaptable animals. They have learned to live among us. I have personally seen coyotes look both ways before crossing a busy street. They drink out of swimming pools. They teach their children to hunt cats and small dogs.

October 20, 2002 | Deanne Stillman last wrote for the magazine about researching her book "Twentynine Palms: A True Story of Murder, Marines in the Mojave" (William Morrow), a Los Angeles Times selection as one of the top nonfiction books for 2001.

I know, I know. The coyote killed your cat, attacked your dog, ate your daughter's homework, your wife's Palm Pilot and your Greg Norman signature golf tees, ripped your pet bunny to shreds, devoured your chickens, wiped out your sheep farmer brother-in-law's spring lamb population and gorged for days on hundreds of priceless black Angus cattle, thereby reducing the country's livestock supply by a third and simultaneously quadrupling the price of a good steak, before a holiday weekend no less.

A mere seven months after the Los Angeles Department of Animal Regulation stops its coyote trapping policy, a few hillside Valley residents cry wolf, or in this case coyote, and The Times reacts with a call to arms against the much maligned and misunderstood coyote (Valley Editorials, Nov. 21). If there is any anxiety about increased coyote sightings, we should be focusing on giving some good advice about living with wildlife rather than coddle fears by arguing for the reconsideration of a cruel policy.

Councilman Barry L. Denes is demanding to know why an experiment using lithium chloride to control the local coyote population has not begun. Denes has scheduled a discussion of the issue at tonight's City Council meeting. In May, Dr. Stuart Ellins, a Cal State San Bernardino professor, received state approval to begin his experiment designed to prevent coyotes from entering residential neighborhoods and eating pets.

I was deeply disturbed by a letter published Jan. 9 regarding coyote trapping. It asserted that it is the responsibility of parents and pet owners, not the city, to protect their pets and small children. It implies that the hundreds of us who have lost pets or have had their children stalked in the San Fernando Valley since the ban are irresponsible. In most of these instances the pets were fenced in, and many of the attacks took place in daylight in a densely populated residential area that has existed for 30 years.

On July 20, in my fenced yard in Encino, I frightened a coyote into letting go of my tiny, terrified dog. The animal saw me coming, grabbed the dog in his jaws and began to run. Fortunately my screaming scared him off. Coyotes have been roaming the streets and nesting behind the fences on the hillsides above our homes in increasing numbers since last year. They jump over the fences into our yards in search of small animals to feed their young. At night we are awakened by the screeching of animals being eaten alive, accompanied by the howling of the coyotes.

As if baggage, security and traffic aren't enough of a hassle for the thousands expected to fly in and out of Raleigh-Durham International Airport this holiday weekend, here's one more thing to worry about: coyotes on the runway. Airport officials have noted a marked increase in recent months in the number of coyotes crossing the paths of taxiing airplanes. The critters can wreak havoc, causing delays in takeoffs and landings. In September, an American Eagle jet struck a coyote on a runway.

Puff, a white cat, was the pride of Charles Ryder's life for 13 years. Every night, Ryder would set Puff outside his home on Sherbourne Drive south of Pico Boulevard. And the "street-wise" cat would always return. But one night Puff did not come back. A few days later, Ryder identified Puff's remains near his home. "She was eaten totally, except for her head and her front paws and shoulders," Ryder said.

Wily coyote has run into a spot of trouble, at least in Yellowstone, where the canine once reigned supreme, until his bigger cousin the wolf came on the scene with great fanfare in 1995. Things have not been the same since. When 31 gray wolves were released in Yellowstone in 1995 and 1996, all the attention was on the great predators: Would they thrive? Would legal challenges from ranchers' groups fearing the loss of young livestock send them packing?

Councilman Barry L. Denes is demanding to know why an experiment using lithium chloride to control the local coyote population has not begun. Denes has scheduled a discussion of the issue at tonight's City Council meeting. In May, Dr. Stuart Ellins, a Cal State San Bernardino professor, received state approval to begin his experiment designed to prevent coyotes from entering residential neighborhoods and eating pets.

A city councilman has scheduled a discussion Tuesday to look at ways of controlling the local coyote population after several residents reported that their pets had been attacked. "I'm just willing to do whatever it takes," Councilman Barry L. Denes said. Several residents have called the city's hotline in recent weeks to complain about coyotes coming down from the foothills and killing their pets. Some residents favor trapping or killing the coyotes. But others reject the idea as inhumane.

On July 20, in my fenced yard in Encino, I frightened a coyote into letting go of my tiny, terrified dog. The animal saw me coming, grabbed the dog in his jaws and began to run. Fortunately my screaming scared him off. Coyotes have been roaming the streets and nesting behind the fences on the hillsides above our homes in increasing numbers since last year. They jump over the fences into our yards in search of small animals to feed their young. At night we are awakened by the screeching of animals being eaten alive, accompanied by the howling of the coyotes.

When the Los Coyotes Oil Field in eastern La Mirada was still just grassy, rolling hills, the area's dominant inhabitants seldom strayed from a diet of wild rabbits and squirrels. But as developers in February began leveling the 90-acre site to make room for more than 300 residences, the area's coyote population headed into civilization for a change of menu: roaming cats, uncooped chickens and park ducks.

Villa Park is not alone in wondering what to do about a coyote population in conflict with its neighbors (Sept. 5, 25). As a member of the Animal Rescue Foundation of Dana Point, I hear almost daily of pets missing that must be presumed eaten. Coyotes are one of nature's most adaptable animals. They have learned to live among us. I have personally seen coyotes look both ways before crossing a busy street. They drink out of swimming pools. They teach their children to hunt cats and small dogs.

Brooke had a daily ritual, and that's what did her in. As usual, Brooke began yipping and scratching at the back door of the Marrows' place in La Mesa near San Diego just as the morning sun inched above the horizon. The dog's owner, Kathleen Marrow, obediently let the small white terrier out into the back yard.

I am writing in regard to "For Streetwise Coyotes, Another Lesson to Learn," which was the lead article in "San Diego at Large" on Feb. 11. I am incensed not only about the content of the article, but also about its placement in a department that primarily features light-hearted, even humorous, news. I found nothing at all humorous about the piece, which seems to be nothing more than free publicity for one Fletcher Diehl and his National Predator Callers Assn. The group's name is in itself a misnomer, as Diehl is not some innocent, charming wild animals like a shepherd calling his flock--no, he'll "lure them toward your house with a noise that attracts coyotes . . . then he'll shoot 'em."

I was deeply disturbed by a letter published Jan. 9 regarding coyote trapping. It asserted that it is the responsibility of parents and pet owners, not the city, to protect their pets and small children. It implies that the hundreds of us who have lost pets or have had their children stalked in the San Fernando Valley since the ban are irresponsible. In most of these instances the pets were fenced in, and many of the attacks took place in daylight in a densely populated residential area that has existed for 30 years.

A mere seven months after the Los Angeles Department of Animal Regulation stops its coyote trapping policy, a few hillside Valley residents cry wolf, or in this case coyote, and The Times reacts with a call to arms against the much maligned and misunderstood coyote (Valley Editorials, Nov. 21). If there is any anxiety about increased coyote sightings, we should be focusing on giving some good advice about living with wildlife rather than coddle fears by arguing for the reconsideration of a cruel policy.